Flu

Patients six times more likely to have heart attack within week of flu diagnosis ... Two Minnesota health officials under investigation after backlog of elder abuse complaints ... Caregiving at home and at work hurts women who staff nursing homes

Long-term care providers should take their staff turnover rate into account when looking for ways to increase employee flu vaccination rates, according to a new research review. Because there could be frequent newcomers, managers should make sure flu-prevention efforts are continual and not pinned to just one day or week.

Allow me to get ahead (slightly) of the deluge of news articles, press releases and conference sessions on influenza and vaccinations that are about to hit, with the results of a new study throwing a new wrench into vaccination efforts: race.

Sanofi Pasteur announced it had shipped the first of its 2016-2017 seasonal influenza vaccine doses this week. The company, the world's largest flu vaccine manufacturer, said it expected to ship 65 million vaccine doses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is inviting providers and other key stakeholders to gear up for National Influenza Vaccination Week. The CDC plans to host numerous activities in support of NIVW, which runs Dec. 6-12 this year.

You can't always keep the flu and other viruses out of your community, but you can take steps to help reduce their transmission. And precautions against flu and norovirus are believed to be effective against other similar viruses, including enterovirus, poliovirus and rhinovirus.

Take whichever side of the argument you want, but you can't disagree that New York state's new flu-vaccine mandate has had a profound effect. By declaring health workers have to wear a facemask during flu season if they aren't vaccinated, the state has compelled more to line up for their shots. Jewish Home Lifecare just might be the most creative. Or bold.

Fourteen long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania dramatically increased their staff flu vaccination rate by having a regional pharmacy take over the process, according to a report issued Thursday by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHQR).

Late last month, we got a call from my almost octogenarian father-in-law, Lou. Lou has always been relatively healthy. During this call, Lou told us that he had the flu. He said not to worry, that he was taking good care of himself.

Seniors in the United States are meeting most health targets, but many are still not being vaccinated for the potentially fatal conditions of influenza and pneumonia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Giving employees paid sick days would reduce flu infections in the workplace, according to a new analysis. Researchers simulated an influenza epidemic in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County and discovered that paid sick days would reduce flu cases by close to 6%, according to the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

Caregivers involved in the annual battle against influenza outbreaks will get an advance peek in a webinar Tuesday at what vaccine options for the 2013-14 flu season will be. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases will preview the possibilities. The webcast will begin at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The presentation will include a review of vaccine effectiveness for the 2012-13 campaign.

Seniors in nursing homes are at greatest risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in the winter months, while children are at greatest risk during the summer, according to a recently released study.

On average, roughly 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half of those hospitalized are over age 65. This season's influenza virus outbreak was no exception. In fact, according to the CDC, the flu season is the most severe it has been in 10 years.

This season's flu strains continue to hit the senior population especially hard, with the majority of deaths and hospitalizations hitting those over the age of 65, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 2012-13 flu season has been especially bad for the elderly, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in a call with reporters. Despite this, CDC figures show about half of nursing home workers have not been vaccinated.